Alternating-current relay



March 3, 1931. o. A. ROSS ALTERNATING CURRENT RELAY Filed Nov. 14, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet l March 3, 1931. I I Q oss 1,795)! ALTERNATING CURRENT RELAY Filed Nov. 14,' 1925 :s Sheets-Sheet 2 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 14. 1925 Z] nventoz Patented Mar, 3, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OSCARA. ROSS, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL. COM- PANY, or ROCHESTER, NEW YORK Application filed November This invention relates to relays, and more particularly to that class of relays known as signalling relays employing alternating current for their operation.

One object of my invention is to furnish a relay having a very low resistance component in the local winding, in this manner producing a low power factor thereby producing a large phase displacement between the windhk ings of what is known as a track relay further resulting in a high torque the net result being a highly efiicient operating device. Another object is to furnish a relay having a high. dropaway percentage, said drop- 1 Y away being the ratio of energy required. to make full contact, to the energy reduced to the point where said relay will open its contacts fully. I accomplish this by operating the relay rotor in a vertical plane and stepfl ping said rotor on a bearing of very hard substance whereby the friction of the bearings are reduced to a minimum, and in addition by employing a novel form of contact disclosed in my co-pending application for "f- Letters Patent Serial Number 65,399, filed Oct. 28th, 1925.

Another object is to furnish a relay in which all stationary and adjacent movable parts between which a substantially small air gap exists, will have said air gap arranged in a vertical plane, whereby, if any dirt or foreign matter enters therein, it will fall through said air gap and not cause interference with said movable parts. In relays having rotors operating in a horizontal plane the air gap must likewise be in a horizontal plane. If for any reason sufiicient dirt, com pound, or foreign matter accumulates in said air-gap it may stick said relay in the clear position, a grave offense in the signalling art. Such accumulation of foreign matter may occur from overheating of the relay windings from any cause, as for example a charge of lightning.

Another object is to produce a relay in which, although the rotor is safe guarded from sticking due to accumulation of foreign matter in the air-gap, its operation will be visible to maintainers, or inspectors. Whereas it is true that a rotor will stick if 14, 1925. Serial No. 69,130.

conditions warrant, and that visibility of the rotor does not, in itself, prevent such sticking, there is a great deal of satisfaction and safety due to timely warning, in watching, or being able to see all movable parts in operation.

Another object is to provide means for antomatically heating the interior of a relay during periods of extremely cold weather when lowered temperatures might cause interference with the proper operation of said relay.

Another object is to furnish a relay wherein the various parts are so arranged that, whereas the operation of the rotor is visible, the windings producing the energy, or rather torque for operating said rotor, are completely enclosed and invisible to an on-looker, in this manner making a neat appearing device as most windings employed in similar devices are unsightly.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses, and the novel features of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

This invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, delineated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in that portion of the instrument wherein patentable novelty is claimed for certain and peculiar features of the device, it bein under stood that, within the scope of what hereinafter thus is claimed, divers changes in the form, [n'oportions size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, or sacrificing any of the details.

In describing the invention in detail, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which Fig. 1, is an elevational front View of the preferred form of my invention;

l ig. 2, is a top view, with what is known as the contacting mechanism removed to show the interior of the relay;

Fig. 3, is a part sectional, part elevational view taken on the line AA of Fig. 1;

ing on the stator illustrating how a minimum amount of wire is obtained;

7, 1S also a diagrammatic View of well known forms of stators illustrating the reason for employing arelatively large quantity of wire on said star rs;

Fig. 8, is a vector diagram showingsubstantially the relative phase relations of the windings on the statorshownin Figs. 7 and ig. 9, is a modified form of the mechanism capted to a three-position relay;

a Fig-10, is a part sectional, part elevational side View of'the same mechanism taken on line (1 C, of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11, is a top view, of: the same is '1 taken on line D-D of Fi 9 Fig. 12, is an enlarged detail of. the counter-weight stops; and

13, shows.diagr:unmatically, heating mea for the relay.

ltet'erring to Figs. 1, 2, 8, 4, 5 and 6,relay 1 comprises two general units, one the contacting mechanism 2, and the other then'iotor movement and case 3. v 1

Contactingmechanism 2, comprises insulation'plate 4, secured by screws ll and dc pending t'rom'which are bearing bracketsc and 6, pivotally mounted in which is contact ba- 7 and circuit closing devices, or contacts as 10 and 11 mounted on'opposite parallel sides thereofl Said contacting devices 10 and ll, are more fully described in my co-pending appl cation for Letters Patent erial Num ,liled Oct. 28, 1925, pliable material pieces 12 and 13, plate 1 and screws l5-15 serving to hold said contacts to said bar. Qllso secured to bar 7, by screws 38 -38 arm 37, ca rying counter wcigl 2-39 adjustably secured by screw 40. Circuit cont-rolling device 10 is generally known as a "front contact and its terminals are connected to mechaone of tensions 18 and 19, and flexible conductors l, and 21,7passing through insulated guide trip 22. Circuit controlling device 11, is generally known as the baclr contact and its terminals areconnected to front binding posts 23 and 2% through metal extensions 25 and 526, andcables 27 and 28, also passing through guide strip 22. Binding posts 2929 are four in number and form the terminals for the windings on the stators of th. relay motor, conductors 32, -33, and 36 connecting to said posts. Binding posts 30, form the terminals for thermostat 31, of any well known construction and the terminals of which are placed in the circuit of one of the stator windings, preferabl the phase havi1 7, having trunnions 8 and9, at each end "he rear binding posts 16 and 17, by metal ex ing the lower inductance, as for example the traclr phase of a track relay. Also attached to contact bar 7, by screws 4-2-42, 1s lever e3,

said lever being the division point between foresaid contact unit 2, and motor unit.

Motor unit 3, comprises molded metal frame, or case a l, the four Vertical sides of which are enclosed by doors lf), l6, l? and 48, secured by screws l9 i9 and cont in transparent sheets 0-5O, preferably 01 glass set in said doors with plastic cement and are held in place by the clamping eiiect of screws 929 4 9, apli able gasket ail-51, serving to Vpreventdust or other foreign matter from entering the relay interior.

Case ll, has a centrally disposed machined projection 52, mounted on which is stator 53 comprising lamina 5d, insulated washers 5555, secured by nut 56, and in the slots 57 -57 of which are wire wound coils 58a, 58b, 58c, 58d and 59a, 59?),- 59c, 59d, forming windings of a split phase-relay, and for purpese of illustration are shown in Fig. (5, a localand track wind ingoia track relay, a device well known in the art.

Also forming part of case l i, are machineu ugs, or projections 6060, rigidly secured inwhich are studs 5l-61 acting to locate stator (52, preferably termed a core, v ith reepwt to stator 53, nuts $565 securing said ore in place. Core comprises lamina 63 and til, brackets 66, coi'itaining bearing 6? adapted to guide the upper end of shaft 69,

being clamped between said stator, or core 62 and nuts 65.

:i'gldly secured fiai ged support 70,0arrying and has the lower end of shaft 69 stepped in bearing 73, more fully described in my co-pending application Serial ll umber (35,398, filed Oct. 28th, 1925,.the upper end being guided bearing 67, the protruding portion carrying lever 74, the mter end of which, is limited by strms'ilc and Til-Z; secured to stator, or core 62, and is pivotally connected to link 77 by screw 76, said linl; being also pivotallyconnected to lever 43 by screw e30. lin 75 serves to secure lover 7% to shaft 69.

Incandescent lamps 78 and 79 adequately secured in case 44, andreceiving energy from the source supplying therelayy' pontrolled by manually operator.

switch S0 inspection purposes, and by thermostat 116, said thermostat acting'to cut in said normal operating speed, and in which, sleeve 81, rigidly secured to shaft 69, supports frictlonally mounted plnion 82 meshing with lmtor 68, comprises shaft 69, to which is inetal rotor shell 71, secured by rivets 7'2-72,

gear sector 83, rigidly mounted on shaft 84,

the lower end of which is stepped in bearing 85, adjustably secured in case 44, and the upper end guided bybearing 86 likewise adjustably secured in case 44. After adjustment of said bearings to align sector 83 with pinion 82, both of said bearings are sealed in place.

Screw 87, secured to sector 83, pivotally actuates links .88 and 89 adapted to raise counter weights 90 and 91, by their movement in one direction only, slots 92 and 93 serving to give free movement in the opposite direction. Counter weights 90 and 91, are pivotally mounted on pins 94 and 95 rigidly secured to bracket member 96, and have arms 97 and 98 containing screws 99 and 100 co-acting with the slotted .ends of links 88 and 89, said counter weights normally resting on stops 101 and 102.

Said bracket 96, is secured to studs 6161 by nuts 6565 and has extensions 103 and 104, .eontaining adj ustably secured screws'105 and 106 fitted with resilient stops 107, nuts l08-108 serving to lock said screws in place.

Sector 83 also has arm 109 containing screw 110, pivotally controlling one end of link 111, the other end of which is pivotally secured to lever 112, by screw 113, attached to a contact bar, as 7, by pins 114.

ieterring to Figs. 6 and 7, the dimensions E, and F, illustrate substantially the relative lengths of wires between slots in a four pole sixteen slot stator, stator 115 (Fig. 7) representing the usual form of wound outer stator, and stator 62 representing my improved torni of wound inner stator. Said wires on stator 115 are actually longer than shown by dimension due to the radial extension of said wires to adequately clear the rotor. The reduced length of wire in my improved stator is very beneficial as the wire is very fine due to the normally high voltage impressed on the local phase, and, therefore, a substantial. reduction in length of one turn reduces the entire resistance of the winding very materially. The value of such reduced resistance will be more fully understood by reference to the vector diagram in Fig. 8, the angle Y representing substantially the phase displacement obtained by my improved form of stator, whereas, angle X represents substantially that of an externally wound stator as, for example, stator 115. The line 7 representing the track, or resistive phase, or winding.

The operation of my improved relay is as tollows :-Figs. 1, 2, and 3, illustrate what is known in the art as a quick-acting two-position relay. Energizing of windings on stator (32. causes rotor 68 to actuate lever 74 through the included angle H, moving from stop 7 4b, to stop 74a, this movement being known as picking up the relay to the trout contact position, and, as said movement occurs, the circuit through contacts 1010 will be closed and those through 1111 will be opened, such opening and closing being more fully described in my co-pending application for Letters Patent Serial Number 65,899, tiled October 28th, 1925. De-energizing of said windings will cause lever 74 to return to step 741'), by action of counter-weight 39, said last named movement causing the circuits through contacts 10"10 to be opened, and those through contacts 1111 to be closed, this being known as dropping away to the backcontact position.

shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, lever 74 is assumed to traveling from stop 74?) to stop 740, the several views showing the relation of the moving parts with said leverv equi-distant said stops.

Refer now to Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12, illustrating the parts required to convert relay 1, into a three position normal acting-device T4, link 77, lever 43, lever 37 and ter-weight 39. are omitted and the sevcral parts illustrated in said views are substituted therefore. W'hen windings on stator- 62 are energized in a manner whereby rotor (38 revolves in the direction of arrow J, sector 83 will move in the direction of arrow M, thereby raising counter weight 91 to stop 1'06, and through link 111, causes contact bar 7 to move in the direction of arrow B, in this manner closing the circuits through the contacts 101'0, this being also known as the front, or

clear position. De-energizing of said winding ca uses counterweight 91 to return to lower stop 102, in this manner returning contact bar 7, to the neutral or tie-energized position, as

shown in the several views. Energy to said winding in a direction opposite to that herein'before described will cause rotor (38 to rotate in the direction of arrow K, sector 83 moving in the direction of arrow N, and contact bar in thedirection of arrow P. By this movement the circuits through contacts 11 are closed and those through 1()10 are opened, this being known as the back contact, or cantion position.

lVhen relay 1, is to be operated as a two position normal speed device, nan'iely, wherein the moving parts assume only two fixed positions, the lever 37 and its counter weight- 39, as well as counter' weight 91 and link 89 are omitted, likewise slot in link 88, for which a hole is substituted. Further, the leverage of arm 109 is substantially doubled whereby the extreme movement of counter weight 90, within the limits of its stops will cause contact bar- 7, to move throughout the entire included angle S. Obviously said bar will move from full back contact position to full front Contact position as the relay is energized and vice versa when said relay is deenergized.

lVhen relay 1, is operated as a three posij obtained, and, should dirt, or foreign matter enter thereimj it will fall through to'the bottom of case a l, and, by so doing, precludes any chance of rotor 68 sticking in the clear position, a very serious offense in the signalling It is obvious that operation of said parts art. in a horizonal plane will permit dirt and foreign matter to accumulate in the air gaps, and as the movement of said rotor is slow and the torque low, a very slight accumulation of said dirt or foreign matter in the air gaps, will result in said rotor sticking most probably in the clear position, as said relays are energized -for the greater portion of the time.

Further, by the novel arrangement of placing windings on the inner stator, a much lesser amount of copper is required, resulting in, not only more economical construction, but also a localwinding of much lower power factor whereby the efficiency of the relay is muchimpr-oved, further resulting in a lower operating cost.

Further, by tl e novel arrangement of placing windings on the inner stator, they become invisible to an observer although the movement of aforesaid rotor is clearly visible to said observer. c

- Further, by the novel arrangement of placing the windings on the inner stator, a pleasing mechanical structure is obtained,good proportions and clean mechanical structure giving confidence to those who are interested in purchasing dependable relays.

Further, by the novel arrangement or" an ai'itomatically controlled heating unit inside the relay case, a substantially uniform temperature is maintainedthereiin'in this manner precluding any possibility of improper oper ation due to excessive lowered atmospheric tein icratures outside the relay case.

Further, by the novel arrangement of an aii'ton'iatically controlled thermostat in one of the windings of said relay, any extraordinary condition producing a temperature inside-said relay case, so low that, the latent heat from the stator windings combined with that of the automatically controlled heating units, are not sufficient to maintain adequate heat, will cause said thermostat to act to open the circuit in which it is placed, thereby calling attention to the extreme condition existing within said relay. Under ordinary operation such a condition is only established if one, or both of the heating units should burn out,

whereafter no auxiliary heat could be supplied to the relay interior.

Counter-wei htlfi serves to balance all parts of which contact bar 7 is composed and operating in a horizontal plane above the axis on which said bar oscillates.

What I claim is V 1. In an alternating currentrelay, n combination, aninduction motor having a rotor,

a substai'itially vertical shaft 'i orsaid rotor, a pinion on said shaft, a gear sector meshing with said pinion and operating in a horizontal plane, connteiwweight pivoted to move in vertical plane, and means connecting said sector and counter-weight ,whereby said counter-weight is raised when said rotor mo've's in one direction, but isiiot affected when said rotor moves in the opposite direction,

2 In an alternating current relay, in combination, an inductioninotor hav g a rotor, a substantially vertical shaft for said rotor, a pinion on said shaft, a gear sector meshing with said pinion and operating in a hori zontal plane, a counter-weight pivoted to move in a vertical plane,.a bell crank pivoted on a horizontal anis, a crank pin on said sector, and a connecting rod having one end receiving said pin, and a slot and pin connection between its outer end and said bell crank, whereby said counter-Weight is raised when said rotor moves in one direction, but is not affected when said rotormoves in the opposite direction. I

In a relaytor railway use,:in combination, an induction motor, a vertical shaft operated thereby, a pinion on said shaft, a horizontal gear sector pivoted to mesh with said pinion, alcounter-weight pivoted to move in avertical plane,cineans operatively connecting said sector and said counterweight, and an adjustable stop for hunting movement of said countei'\veiglit. I

d. In a relay for railway use, in combination, an induction motor, a vertical shaft operated thereby, a pinion on said shaft, a horizontalgear sector pivoted to mesh with said pinion, a counter-weight pivoted to move in a. vertical plane, means o iieratively connecting said sector and said counterweight, and a stop for said comiter-weight, 

